More details are emerging about the man who died in Passau on Friday night, and it appears he led a sex cult and was obsessed with medieval folklore.
Under German law he can only be identified as Torsten W but the 53-year-old was apparently a master at psychological manipulation, according to the Bild newspaper.
German TV channel RTL interviewed several people who knew him and reported: "Investigators suspect they were all members of a kind of sex circle with a focus on the Middle Ages. Torsten W. may have been the guru of the group."
He was "in relationships with several women whom he ruled over like a master", according to Bild.
— Louise (@_LouCam) 13 May 2019
Torsten W owned a shop which sold medieval weapons and flags, offered sword-fighting classes and featured a bizarre female mannequin wearing suspenders, tied with ropes and chains, and smeared with red paint.
Bild, quoting landlord Alexander Krueger, said Torsten W lived with a lesbian couple who followed his every whim and behaved like slaves.
Torsten W was found lying on a double bed with his girlfriend, Kerstin E, 33, and both had crossbow bolts in their heads and hearts. They were holding hands and had their last wills nearby.
The third woman, Farina C, 30, lay on the floor with a crossbow bolt in her neck.
She is believed to have shot the couple, at their request, before taking her own life.
#Germany #Passau: Two women aged 31 and 33 and a 54-year-old man were found dead in a guest house in Passau. The police also found two crossbows on the bodies.https://t.co/dnwzIq3n6I pic.twitter.com/3owXptZbZd
— NewsAspect (@newsaspect) 12 May 2019
Bavaria state prosecutor's office said the motive was still unclear and a final report was not expected until next month.
When police searched Farina C's apartment 400 miles away in Wittingen they found two more dead women.
One of them was Farina's girlfriend, 35-year-old primary school teacher Gertrud C and the other one was a 19-year-old who has not been named.
RTL said she was believed to be Carina U, who had fallen under Torsten W's spell last year and broken off contact with her parents.
She had taken martial arts classes with him but quickly became besotted, dying her hair black and eventually moving out.
Crossbows can be easily purchased on the internet in Germany and across Europe.
Last year a pregnant woman was killed in London when he ex-husband allegedly fired a crossbow into her abdomen. Her unborn son survived.
He went on trial earlier this year but the jury was discharged and he is expected to be retried in November.
